Husker Volleyball Sweeps Illini

The Huskers took on the Illinois Fighting Illini on Wednesday night in Devaney Center. It was the second meeting between the two teams this year, but yielded nearly identical results, as Nebraska swept Illinois 25-21, 26-24, 25-12.

Fresh off earning B1G Freshman of the Week honors for the first time this year, Kadie Rolfzen recorded a double-double with 13 kills (.296) and 11 digs. Kelsey Robinson added 15 kills and a .389 hitting clip for the night as the Huskers outhit the Illini .318-.143.

Cecilia Hall had an unreal night at the net, with a total of 11 blocks (1 solo, 10 assists) to lead a Husker wall that recorded 16.0 blocks to Illinois’ 6.5. The Huskers also outdug the Illini 43-40.

The bugaboo for the Huskers this season has been serving, but there were only four service errors committed by either team. There have been other nights where the Huskers kept this number down, but those nights are becoming more common now, and that bodes well for the remainder of the season.

Kelsey Robinson is unreal. What a HUGE coup for the Big Red to have her come over and play her senior season here. She had one, just one, hitting error on the night. Given that any attack that gives the other team a point (blocked, out of bounds, in the net) counts as an error, to have one error in 36 attempts is almost inhuman. Wow.

Personally, as a coach, I like my team to win every way they can, it gives experience and confidence going in to the post season, where you’ll see about everything. The Huskers won set two after being down 23-20. Being able to fight back from that deficit is great experience for a young team. That microcosm can be hugely beneficial come tournament time.

This team keeps cleaning up mistakes and getting better. The Rolfzens, Wong-Orantes, Lyles, Etheridge, and Hunter are all freshman playing like upper classmen. I believe that this team will be playing in Seattle in December.